Music Matters

Photo: "The Bionic Harpist" by Bruno Destombes

> Check the Essential Guide to MUTEK Forum

Music issues are always a hot-button topic at MUTEK, as electronic musicians are evolving in a fast-paced and continuously changing industry. The 7th edition of the Forum will feature once again a more targeted track involving several of the artists participating in the Festival and addressing a wide range of music industry-related matters.

This year we shine a light on pressing ecological concerns with a series of events hosted by EarthPercent, a brand new environmental sustainability charity co-founded by Brian Eno. EarthPercent’s Love Ssega and electronic music veteran Matthew Herbert will reflect on the process of moving from awareness to action, as well as its impact on an artist’s career. Other activities will engage participants in a direct and interactive discussion of these issues with guests from Client Earth, A Greener Festival and Music Declares Emergency, as well as German music executive producer and entrepreneur, and founder of !K7 Music, Horst Weidenmüller.

A closer look will also be given to data-driven decision making in the music industry with a panel featuring French strategist Julie Knibbe and Keychange innovator Ievgeniia Ivanova, as well as a workshop on musicians’ digital sovereignty offered by online marketing experts Click & Mortar.

Soundworks, a newly launched sound meditation app, will host a panel of artists—including spatial sound veterans Richard Chartier and Grand River — and academics who will discuss creative approaches to mindful sonic experiences.

Montréal-based startup BeatConnect's breakthrough solution for collaborative music production will be demonstrated by local musicians and sound engineers Pheek and Stereo_IMG in a real-time virtual studio session.

Max instructor Kyle Duffield will offer a two-part workshop that initiates creators to concepts for creating code based interactive sonic experiences. And Keychange fellow Machine Woman will share how to levy realistic expectations against the internet perception for the basic music business for DIY artists.

From the festival’s performance program, a series of Q&As will feature artists such as French-Tunisian performer Deena Abdelwahed and Canadian multi-instrumentalist Yu Su, who will both be interviewed by music journalist Sarah Mackenzie, as well as Polish composer Joanna Duda, a participant of the current Keychange cohort, whom MUTEK is hosting once again at the festival. Another session will bring together the artists who have benefited from the first Avatar-MUTEK production residencies: Pierre-Luc Lecours, Ida Toninato and Alex Tibbitts.

Alexander Scholz ^CA — HOLO Alex Tibbitts ^US/QCAmanda Gutierrez ^MX/QC — Concordia University Claire L. Evans ^USClaire O’Neill ^UK — A Greener Festival Deena Abdelwahed ^TN/FRFrédérique Laliberté ^CA/QC — Avatar Grand River ^IT/NL Horst Weidenmüller ^DE — !K7 Music Greg J. Smith ^CA — HOLO Ida Toninato ^FR/QC Ievgeniia Ivanova ^PL/UA — ARNOVA Isla Angus ^UK — Client Earth Jean-Patrice Rémillard (Pheek) ^CA/QC Jennifer Lucy Allan ^UK Joanna Duda ^PL John Connell ^UK/DE+US — Soundworks Julie Knibbe ^FR — Music Tomorrow Kyle Duffield ^CALewis Jamieson ^UK — Music Declares Emergency Love Ssega ^UK — EarthPercent Lukas Volz ^DE — University of Cologne Machine Woman ^RU/UK Matthew Herbert ^UK Niko Seizov ^UK — EarthPercent Olivier J. Bergeron ^CA/QC — Click & Mortar Patrick Haggart ^CA/QC Pierre-Luc Lecours ^CA/QC Rchard Chartier ^US Sarah Mackenzie ^CA/QC Yu Su ^CN/CA

Buy one of our three Forum Passport available to join the discussions and expand your connections thanks to the virtual market

Explore the complete selection of MUTEK Forum speakers

Dive into the other fields of expertise covered:

About MUTEK Forum

In parallel to the Festival, the MUTEK Forum is back for its seventh edition from Tuesday, August 24 to Thursday, September 2 on our virtual platform. This market for ideas aims to bring together artists and companies in digital creativity and electronic music, with the goal of exploring the latest artistic practices while stimulating reflection on the ethical and political issues related to technology and the digital world. Artificial intelligence, extended reality (XR), immersive creation and crypto art are among the many themes that will be explored by more than 100 local and international speakers through 60 activities.

For a second consecutive year, the Forum will also feature a virtual market that facilitates networking by showcasing Québec, Canadian and international artists to buyers from around the world. More than 750 participants, including over 200 distributors, representing 400 different organizations and companies from over 50 countries, will gather on the online platform to attend conferences, panels and workshops, and to develop artistic connections and business opportunities,